Sanghvi and Badani win selectors' nod

By G. Viswanath

MUMBAI, FEB. 20. The magic word for the five selectors was spin. They believe Australia can be stopped in its tracks by a wrist spinner and two finger spinners. On Tuesday, while picking the team for the first Test, they recalled leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani (66 wkts. at 30.10), who played the last of his 17 Tests against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Calcutta, in 1996. India had lost this Test by a big margin.

They also recalled off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (his last Test was against New Zealand in Ahmedabad 1999), who made his debut against Mark Taylor's Australia in 1998. The third spinner in the 14 man squad is Delhi's left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi, who picked himself in the team with a five-wicket haul at Nagpur in the opening tour match against Australia. Sanghvi has not played a Test match.

The selectors also made a statement that Nayan Mongia is the No. 1 wicketkeeper in India and decided to play Venkatsai Laxman as a middle order batsman. Half of the 14-member team has been taken by batsmen, the seventh being left-hander Hemang Badani. He has proved to be a big hit in limited-overs matches and now the selectors see a definite potential in him to develop as a Test batsman. The selectors feel that Badani is a more matured batsman than Yuveraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif.

But, first the selection of three spinners and Hirwani in particular. When asked if he would be tempted to play three spinners in the first Test, the chairman Mr. Chandu Borde said: ``Yes, but it will all depend on the nature of the pitch. Balaji Rao troubled the Australians in Nagpur, but he was wayward. Hirwani is accurate. And we hope he will deliver.''

Hirwani gets the `Wright' word

A good word from coach John Wright also clinched the selection of Hirwani, whose mentor years ago, was Sanjay Jagdale, the national selector from Central Zone. Hirwani and Mumbai's Sairaj Bahutule - both not among the 25 probables picked for the Test series - spent five days at the camp in Chennai after the N.K.P. Salve Challenger Trophy series.

The selectors, the coach Wright and captain Sourav Ganguly could not have been oblivious to the fact that it was a leg-spinner - Anil Kumble - who was pivotal to India's 2-1 win against Australia three years ago. Hirwani, who shot into fame with a world record 16 wickets against the West Indies in Madras, almost 15 years ago, has not played a Test match against Australia. Mr. Borde said that they are looking at two options; six batsmen and four bowlers and five batsmen and five bowlers.

What he did not say was the possibility of India playing six batsmen (Laxman at No. 6), one fast bowler in Javagal Srinath, three spinners and the wicketkeeper. In such an event Ganguly will share the new ball with Srinath.

The five selectors who were in Nagpur appear to be convinced that the Australian batsmen - with the exception of Ricky Ponting - were uncomfortable against Sanghvi, Harbhajan and Rao (in the second innings). ``Harbhajan got the nod ahead of Sarandeep Singh because he has the ability to extract bounce and turn,'' explained Mr. Borde.

`Mongia, the best in business'

The selectors left the choice of the wicketkeeper to Ganguly and Wright. ``It came to such a situation that this matter was left to them,'' said the BCCI Hon. Secretary Mr. Jaywant Lele.

``We discussed both Mongia and Vijay Dahiya. There was not a doubt in our mind that Mongia was the best wicketkeeper. We did not pick him in the recent past because of certain reasons which I don't want to elaborate. Last October we did not consider five players for the ICC Knock-out and Mongia was one of them,'' said Mr. Borde.

One of the five selectors argued that there was no need for a change in wicketkeeper since Dahiya had done well against Zimbabwe.

But Wright and surprisingly Ganguly, opted for Mongia, whose unbeaten 71 against the visitors in Nagpur tilted the scales in his favour.

A point that went against Mongia after the 1999 World Cup was that he was not `going for regulation catches.'

When asked about the injuries to Sachin Tendulkar (calf) and Ajit Agarkar (ankle) Mr. Borde said,``It's news to me. I was in Nagpur. I don't know. In fact, Wright told me that both are fit.'' Three days ago, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) decided to withdraw Tendulkar and Agarkar from the team for its match against Australia following a request from Wright and physiotherapist Andrew Leipus that both need to be rested for niggling injuries!

The team

Sourav Ganguly (captain) 
Sadagopan Ramesh
Shiv Sundar Das
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar 
Venkatsai Laxman 

Nayan Mongia (wicketkeeper)
Javagal Srinath 
Narendra Hirwani
Rahul Sanghvi
Harbhajan Singh
Ajit Agarkar
Zaheer Khan 
Hemang Badani

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